The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 85, July 1981 - April, 1982 Page: 27
497 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Jane McManus Storms
ly," and he did. Storms apparently played a central role in initiating
the Beach mission. With her political contacts in the administration
and Texas she was able to interest the various parties in the possibility
of such a venture.14
The secret mission called for Beach to go to Mexico City to sound
out peace sentiment, and to seek a settlement if he found any oppor-
tunities. In return, as his broker's fee, Beach was to receive transit
rights across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which was a possible At-
lantic-Pacific canal or railroad route. Beach also hoped to win a bank-
ing concession in Mexico City. His cover story throughout was to be
that he was on a business trip. President Polk, Buchanan wrote Beach,
"has full confidence in your patriotism, ability and discretion," add-
ing, "The trust thus confided to you is one of great delicacy and
importance."1
To conceal the mission, Beach decided to travel to Mexico by way
of Havana. As a further concealment he was accompanied by his
twenty-six-year-old daughter, Drusilla, and by Storms, who was to be
his assistant and interpreter, since she spoke fluent Spanish and was
Catholic. The trio left New York City in late November, 1846, taking
a circuitous route to Havana. They sailed first to Charleston, where
they transferred to a small schooner that took them to Matanzas, on
the north coast of Cuba. From there they caught a coastal steamer to
Havana. Beach spent several weeks in the Cuban city-meeting with
church officials, seeking to set up contacts in Mexico City, and arrang-
ing for British passports for the party. This precaution was taken after
the publisher had been warned "not to trust his life without the pro-
tection of a passport.., of a nation with whom Mexico was at peace."
The British consul gave him a temporary appointment "as bearer of
dispatches for the consul.... "16
14Nelson, "Mission to Mexico"; M. S. Beach, "A Secret Mission to Mexico," Scribner's
Monthly, XVIII (May, 1879), 136-14o; Merk, Manzfest Destiny, 132, 133; John Bassett
Moore (ed.), The Works of James Buchanan (x1 vols.; New York, 1960), VII, 119 (quota-
tion).
The growth of the Sun and the paper's role during the Mexican War are discussed in
Frank M. O'Brien, The Story of the Sun, New York, 1833-1928 (New York, 1928), 89-120.
15Moore (ed.), Works of James Buchanan, VII, 119 (quotations), 12o. Buchanan added
that the government would pay Beach six dollars a day for his services, plus travel ex-
penses. Ibid., 119. Whether Beach personally intended to become involved in the develop-
ment of a canal is not clear. Historian Frederick Merk speculates Beach probably had in
mind selling his rights for a profit at a later date, or interesting others in the actual
construction. Merk, Manifest Destiny, 132.
16Beach, "Secret Mission," 137, 138 (quotations). Watterson, "Marse Henry," I, 57, said
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 85, July 1981 - April, 1982, periodical, 1981/1982; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101208/m1/47/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.